The large dragon stood on the edge of the large smoking crater, waiting for the promised compensation, one of his clawed hands tightly clenched in a fist. Everything around him was black and burned. The stone on the bottom of the crater was still blazing hot, glowing in the red light.
The thick clouds of ash and dust covered everything in the darkness. The dragon’s scales, normally shiny and beautiful as polished marble with shiny runes all over them, were covered in dust, itching and stinging, feeling as if thousands of bugs were crawling all over his body as if he sat on an anthill.
‘Radiation… what effects it has on dragons.’
Having a bad feeling about the weird itch spreading all over his body Vesuvius quickly put twenty stats points into both vitality and endurance, hoping to at least partially mitigate any potential problems that could rose up from it.
The itchy feeling immediately weakened a lot, bringing a bit of relief to the dragon.
The dragon looked at his closed fist, feeling anxious just thinking about it. He finally collected all of his bravery as he slowly opened it. His large, scaled fingers covered in glowing runes slowly moved to reveal a pouch lying in the middle of his palm.
Seeing that the pouch looked undamaged, the dragon immediately felt lighthearted from the relief.
Then as if worrying that someone would snatch it, he immediately closed his hand, his glowing reptilian eyes looking around, trying to penetrate through the thick clouds of dust to see any potential thief.
Ding!
//
Appropriate compensation was calculated!
Please choose your compensation for the system’s miscalculation.
Options:
1. 100 gold coins; Instant Level Up x 5
2. 100 gold coins; Unique Item from the dungeon
3. 100 gold coins; Skill Copy Ring (User Bound; One use)
//
Vesuvius looked at all three options carefully, thinking about all of their implications.
‘I think I can cross out the first one… I can always level up just by killing monsters. Picking that would be a waste. What I need is to increase my power per level, not just to gain a few free levels. That is the only way for me to eventually be able to suppress all players.’
He crossed the first option and started to think about the two remaining ones, ‘Unique item… That could end up as a large jackpot or as a large fail. It feels too random for my liking, but I will keep it on the table for now.’
Only one last option remained for the dragon to check. Vesuvius already knew about the power of such a ring from his past life. It could record any skill used before its wielder, allowing a wielder to easily learn a new skill. However, the ring could be used only once before breaking down.
‘The third option… there would be no momentary gain, but with patience and good opportunity, it can end up as sure hit the jackpot in the future. On top of that, I will be in control, not some random number generator.’
The dragon made his decisions, wanting to control his fate, not hoping for some random number to smile at him and give him some balance-breaking unique item. He chose the ring, not wanting to risk getting some useless item for him like a sword or, even worse, a sci-fi gun.
Immediately a bright golden light flashed with the ring that looked like a simple circle of iron materialising around the dragon’s claw.
Ding!
//
It is highly recommended to leave this dungeon.
//
The dragon shook his head after seeing the power hidden in the glowing spheres, ‘I would be a fool if I left now before collecting some of these generators for my… research. And I have a hunch that the moment I leave this place, the system will ensure that I will not be able to return.’
Using them as bombs? He had already thought about it, but he had no idea how to destabilise them, and experimenting with them could literary explode to his face. He had different plans with them.
His mouth opened to grin, only for him to start coughing immediately as the radioactive dust entered his mouth.
A few seconds later, after his coughing fit stopped, his excitement returned, ‘I am sure that they are hiding some interesting properties that can bring some interesting results during my metamorphosis. Maybe some large boost to mana generation, plasma breath or maybe even radioactive breath… who knows.’
He had no idea how many points he would have to spend during metamorphosis, making him unsure of the extent of improvements and changes he could make. He still decided to keep collecting interesting materials even if he didn’t end up using them, as it was better to have more options.
‘Also, maybe I can use them to power something.’
The dragon flapped his large wings, the thick volcanic smoke around him mixing with the radioactive dust creating clouds of thick black smoke as he rose up into the air. His scales were still itching, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Suddenly the ground started to shake again as a bright red light penetrated through the thick dust clouds, the red glow creating a creepy atmosphere.
A giant colossus made out of shiny metal covered in dust flew towards the crater, large red crystal wings on its back sending red waves pulsing through the air behind it.
Two large red glowing orbs focused on the dragon hovering in the air. The colossus remained unmoving, its sensors locked at the small dragon flapping his wings in the dust-filled air.
Then the colossus turned in a quick turn and blasted away, returning in the direction from where it came from.
‘They stopped considering me as their enemy. I need some place to rest and reform my armour. Let’s follow it… maybe they have some base where I can recover.’
Vesuvius flapped his wings, flying behind the bright red light distancing from him, using it as a navigational light. The opaque membranes akin to these of crocodiles protected his eyes from the dust as he blasted through the thick clouds of dust.